by Lynn Hagen
"Summon Bael." Magnus eyed the streets as though he was in the mood to shed blood. "The demon owes me and I’m calling in his debt."
* * * *
Jason smiled as he stretched. He wasn’t sure why Matt had developed a sudden interest in him, but he wasn’t complaining, not when he hurt in all the right places. Maybe Benjamin had been right and sex was the cure-all.
He’d turned over, ready to snuggle when he noticed he was the only one on the couch. Peeking over the edge, he saw that Matt’s clothes were gone. Not even a stray sock was left behind.
Talk about hit-and-run.
Although a part of him knew that Matt had just wanted sex, disappointment settled in his chest. Why did he have the worst luck with men? Why couldn’t he find someone who wanted to stick around? He wasn’t as gorgeous as the men at Grizzly’s, but he wasn’t hideous, either. What was so damn wrong with him that all men wanted from him was a quick lay?
"Don’t you dare let your feelings get involved." Jason got up and padded to the bathroom. After emptying his bladder and washing his hands, he looked at himself in the mirror.
His brows furrowed when he saw the bite mark on his shoulder. The holes were puckered, red, and looked like they’d already started to heal. He was surprised Matt was a biter. Jason had never been bitten during sex or any other time for that matter. What a weird fetish to have. Although Matt was sex on two legs, he hoped like hell the man didn’t have any diseases because the guy had definitely broken skin.
Jason touched the marks and winced. It hadn’t hurt—not much—when Matt had bitten him, but now it stung. What struck him as odd was the fact the marks weren’t a row of teeth, but puncture holes. He didn’t remember Matt having anything less than a perfect, straight set of pearly whites.
Maybe a one-night stand was a good thing when it came to Matt. Jason didn’t relish the idea of becoming his chew toy. Imagining bite marks all over his body made him shudder. The sex had been memorable, but there wouldn’t be a repeat.
He’d started to cut off the light when bile rose to the back of his throat, making him swallow repeatedly to keep from throwing up. Grabbing the edge of the sink, Jason steadied himself. What the hell? Was this some delayed side effect from the pepper spray?
Remembering how he’d assaulted himself, Jason concluded that Matt had to be pretty hard-up to have sex with him after that asinine move. But that didn’t fit. Matt was so damn good-looking he could get any man he wanted.
When a stronger wave made his stomach clench, Jason dropped to his knees, hugged the toilet, and emptied his stomach. Harsh, wrenching pain twisted his gut as he continued to vomit. He felt like someone was stabbing him in the gut.
He spit into the toilet as his body shook like his limbs had turned to wet noodles. Jason barely had the strength to push away from the toilet so he slumped to the floor instead.
The doorbell rang, but Jason didn’t have the strength to get up. Whoever it was could come back. He’d only been asleep for an hour—after working a long shift, having mind-blowing sex, then upchucking into the toilet—and honestly didn’t care who it was.
Screw them. Jason slid sideways, pressing his cheek against the cool tiles.
The sound of the front door opening and closing barely registered as Jason wrapped his arms around his twisted gut. Even his head was out to kill him as it throbbed.
All he wanted was the room to stop spinning for five seconds. The temperature in his apartment must’ve climbed twenty degrees because fuck, it was so damn hot. He turned his head and pressed the other side of his face against the floor, hoping to cool off while trying to remember the last time he’d mopped in here.
"Why are you on the bathroom floor?"
He managed to turn his head to see Matt standing in the doorway. The biter was back. He wasn’t sure how the man had gotten in and didn’t really care. "Checking for leprechauns behind the toilet."
"If you find a pot of gold in the bathroom, I suggest you flush it." Matt helped Jason to his shaky feet. When they cleared the doorway, Matt swung Jason into his arms and carried him to the couch.
He might have been embarrassed that Matt had carried him or that he was still naked, but he was beyond caring since he felt like death warmed over. "Might not want to be around me. I think I got the flu."
"And I think that’s a moot point considering my tongue was rammed down your throat earlier." As Matt laid him on the couch, Jason wondered why the guy had returned and why Matt was looking at him in such a soft way. He was even more confused when Matt grabbed the thin blanket from the back of the couch and tucked it around him.
"You don’t seem the type to play nursemaid."
"You’d be surprised what I’m capable of." Matt gave him a roguish smile. The innuendo heated Jason’s face, neck, and ears. Still, Matt had to have come back for a reason. Had he forgotten something?
"Why’d you come back?" Jason struggled not to be pulled in by the tender way Matt was caring for him. He fought not to fall for a guy who wouldn’t stick around, but he was failing miserably. His emotions were a wreck and all he wanted was for Matt to crawl in next to him, to stay longer than a few hours.
"There you go shooting me down again." Matt sat on the edge of the couch, brushing his knuckles over Jason’s temple. "I wasn’t aware I needed an excuse to see you."
"And I wasn’t aware you did pro-bono dating." Could he have sounded anymore scathing? Jason tucked the blanket around his shoulders, using the fabric as a shield. For a moment he thought Matt would become hostile at Jason’s tone. Instead, he looked annoyed.
"Pro bono—" Matt shook his head. "I don’t date for charity. Why is it so hard to believe I’m genuinely interested in you?"
"Because guys like you ignore guys like me. You don’t date them." He looked away, wishing Matt would just leave. Jason felt like crap and wasn’t in the mood to try to figure the guy out.
"You’re a stubborn little shit." Matt’s hand fell away and Jason instantly missed the connection.
Untangle your damn feelings, moron.
"And you’re a biter." Jason shot the words out in anger and immediately wished he could take them back. He wasn’t the type to poke fun at someone’s idiosyncrasies, but he was fighting against the strong attraction he felt toward Matt. He should have never taken Benjamin’s advice. Jason wasn’t one-night-stand material. He was a forever kind of guy, and he was falling for someone who’d probably made an art of out fucking and fleeing.
Instead of becoming angry, Matt tugged on the blanket, then slid his fingers over the marks he’d left. The touch didn’t make the marks sting like they had when Jason touched them in the bathroom. Instead, his body came to life as a desperate moan slid past his lips. The spot on his shoulder sent out tiny pulses of pleasure, making Jason want to move closer. He shuddered, but stopped the second moan from escaping.
"Tell me you didn’t love every damn second." Matt delivered the challenge with a low growl.
Jason tried to fight against the waves of pleasure overriding his pain. He didn’t want to give in to Matt. He didn’t want to drown in the man only to be cast aside.
"Stop, Matt, please," he begged.
Matt snatched his hand away. He gazed down at Jason with a look of bewilderment that bordered on grief. "My touch repulses you?"
He couldn’t understand why Matt looked so upset. They didn’t even know each other. Why would he be wounded so deeply?
Jason started to say yes but couldn’t bring himself to lie. "I just don’t understand what’s happening. Until last night, I was invisible to you. Benjamin told me not to let feelings get involved, but I need to know. Is this about sex or is there something more to us…this?"
He wanted to bury his head under the blanket and not resurface until Matt was gone. Once again he’d made a fool out of himself in front of the man. When was he ever going to learn that love wasn’t in the cards for him?
"On second thought, don’t answer that. I get it. Last night was a one-of
f. Sorry I tried to put pressure on you." Jason tossed the covers aside and sat up. He grabbed the jeans he’d worn last night that still lay on the floor.
If he was about to be dumped, his dignity demanded he have pants on.
He also grabbed the shirt that had been tossed aside in the kitchen and then slipped on his sneakers. Jason returned to the living room and grabbed his keys. He wasn’t sticking around for Matt’s charming rejection.
Jason gave an undignified squeak when Matt grabbed him around the waist and hauled him close. The intensity in his smoky-gray eyes made him swallow roughly.
"I have no idea who Benjamin is and don’t care. Last night wasn’t a one-off and you’re damn right there’s more to this than sex. I’m not going to lie and say I took interest in you before last night, but I told the truth when I said a person’s tastes change."
Well, wasn’t Jason put in his place? "I’ve been dumped too many times to count. All I’m asking for is the truth. If you just wanted sex, that’s fine. I’m a big boy and can handle that. There’s no need to give me a grand speech. Seriously, it’s cool."
Jason’s eyebrows shot up at Matt’s animalistic, almost dangerous growl. "You are one stubborn-ass man, Jason."
Jason was trying to give Matt a way out but the man wouldn’t take it.
He wanted to believe Matt, he truly did. But everything was happening so fast that his head spun. He’d been dumped by three guys in the past six months and not one of them was half as good-looking as the guy holding him. Matt had shown up out of nowhere, helped Jason home, had rocked Jason’s world, and now he was adamant about wanting more?
Things like this didn’t happen in the real world. Everything in Jason screamed that this was too good to be true, that he needed to get Matt out of his life before he was hurt again. "You can’t guarantee the future," he said.
Why wouldn’t the guy take the out Jason offered?
Matt cupped the back of Jason’s head, forcing Jason to look him in the eyes. When he spoke, his voice held a note of arrogance as well as pure confidence. "Sweetheart, I can guarantee that last night wasn’t a one-time thing. You’re mine and I don’t plan on letting you go."
Jason felt branded by Matt’s piercing eyes. "You do realize that sounds a bit creepy, right?"
Matt’s roguish smile returned and Jason almost melted in his arms. "Got a problem with being mine?"
Did he? All Jason had ever dreamed about or craved was belonging to someone. Yet, a small part of him still didn’t trust Matt at his word. His heart had been crushed too many times and Jason was terrified Matt would be his undoing.
"I don’t share." Jason thought about the strippers Matt had dated and his teeth gnashed.
"Good, ’cause neither do I." There was a dark promise in Matt’s tone that Jason couldn’t understand.
Jason worried his lower lip. He stared up at Matt as a tidal wave of emotions swept over him. Could he trust that Matt was telling the truth? "I—"
His words were cut off when a stranger appeared out of thin air, right in the middle of his living room.
Matt snarled as he tossed Jason to the sofa. He started to get up, but froze as Matt fought the guy with a ruthlessness and savagery Jason had never seen before.
The fight tumbled into the kitchen. His table turned to kindling when the stranger picked up Matt and slammed him on top of it. They exchanged brutal blows as Matt got to his feet. The chairs were knocked across the room, and the glass of the built-in wall cabinet shattered when Matt threw the stranger into it.
They demolished his kitchen as Jason watched in horror. He could do nothing to stop them, not when both men outweighed him by a good sixty pounds of raw muscle.
Jason’s gaze darted to the front door as he contemplated making a run for it, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Matt.
His eyes rounded when Matt grabbed a large kitchen knife from the butcher block on the counter and plunged it to the hilt into the stranger’s chest. The guy didn’t stagger and fall like any normal person would have. Instead, his gaze locked with Jason’s as he yanked the knife free and then licked his blood from the blade.
Jason went cold.
Matt dove for Jason, grabbed his hand, and pulled him from the apartment. They raced down the stairs and spilled into the parking lot. Jason tried desperately to catch his breath as his mind tumbled sideways.
"What the fuck was that!" Jason cried as Matt pulled him to the man’s Hummer. He was practically thrown into the passenger’s side before Matt rounded the hood and jumped into the driver’s seat.
Instead of answering, Matt pulled out his cell phone. Jason’s life had just been turned on its ear and the guy was calling someone?
"Nick, I need everyone at the house. Someone called out Bael."
Chapter Five
Jason forced himself not to flip out in the Hummer as he tried his damnedest to come to grips with what he’d seen. He didn’t know what to make of the situation or Matt. The only thing he knew for certain was that Matt was driving like a maniac as he headed to the wealthier part of town.
He’d told Benjamin that he could be adventurous, but at that very second, Jason wanted his boring life back. He didn’t want to be adventurous, or exotic, or anything other than who he truly was. They were going to crash if the guy didn’t slow down. He wanted to shout at Matt to let him out as Matt made hairpin turns and drove way over the speed limit. Jason’s muscles ached from the tension.
"I can’t tell you everything unless you promise you won’t breathe a word to another living soul." Matt slowed, allowing Jason’s sphincter to unclench. He watched the town whip by as he thought about what Matt had just said.
The only person he talked to was Benjamin, and his friend would think he was ready for a straitjacket if Jason told him someone poofed into his apartment. The question was, did Jason want to know everything? He was barely handling what he’d already seen.
What exactly did everything consist of?
Jason stared out the window, looking at the town he called home and felt a strange sort of detachment. It was as if nothing was familiar to him anymore.
"I won’t tell anyone," he said as he lowered his head to stare at his hands. "But I’m not sure I’m ready for anything else right now."
Matt took one of Jason’s hands in his, intertwining their fingers. "This isn’t how I wanted you to find out." He blew out a long breath. "And here I swore I would never reveal this shit to anyone ever again."
"My life will never be the same again, will it?"
Matt glanced at him, then back at the road. "It’s not all bad. I promise."
Jason nodded, though he wasn’t sure why. He had no idea how things could possibly get any worse and didn’t want to know if they could. But he’d wished Matt was his and he’d gotten that wish. "I’ll make you a deal," he said as he glanced at Matt.
"I’m listening." Matt sounded hesitant.
"Don’t dump everything on me at once and I’ll try my best to keep an open mind."
Matt gave his hand a light squeeze, as if relieved Jason was willing to at least try. "Do you want to know what happened in your apartment?"
Jason shuddered when the question conjured up images of the man licking his own blood off the blade. "Let’s start with something small."
"How small?"
Jason thought about it. If Matt wasn’t shocked that a man could appear out of thin air, then there had to be more going on in their town. "Is everyone in Mercury human?"
"They are, but they aren’t."
"What kind of answer is that?" Jason argued.
"You wanted baby steps, remember?" Matt reminded him. "If you want a deeper explanation, then tell me."
"Fine," Jason said heatedly. "Are you human?"
When Matt didn’t answer, Jason felt the floor drop from under his feet. He yanked his hand out of Matt’s and stared at the guy. He looked human, but so had the man in his apartment. "I want to know but I’m afraid to ask."
Matt se
emed to wrestle with something before he cautiously said, "I’m a shape shifter."
"W-What do you shift into?"
Matt’s jaw tensed. "My base form is wolf."
Jason sat there with a slacked jaw as he tried to imagine Matt changing into a wolf. Keep an open mind. Keep an open mind. He continued the mantra in his head as he tried desperately not to freak out. He would have thought Matt was a crackpot if he hadn’t seen the other man magically appear.
"The men you work for are grizzly bears," Matt said. "The LaSalle’s have been in Mercury for as far back as I can remember."
All of this was too fantastically terrible to believe. His very foundation of realism had cracked. He was being told to believe in the unbelievable—no, he wasn’t being told anything. The proof had been shoved right into his face.
He held up his hand and waved it slightly while squeezing his eyes shut. His head ached as he tried to cope with his new reality. "Okay, that’s enough sharing for now."
"You promised to keep an open mind."
"Oh, it’s open," Jason said with a touch of hysteria in his voice. "It’s so open that my brain just might fall out."
"Breathe," Matt said. They headed down Main Street as he rubbed Jason’s hand. Jason sat there wishing he was still ignorant of the secret world surrounding him—wishing he was at home, fast asleep in bed.
He blew out quick breaths to the point he became dizzy. He clutched his head and then shook it. "I’m going to sit here quietly and have a miniature meltdown."
"I think you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for." Matt made a right and pulled down a long driveway. He parked his Hummer on the side of the house were a dozen other vehicles already sat.
Jason glanced up and realized where he was. "You live on Murray Hill?"
It was a sloped street with expensive homes. Most had gates around them to keep the undesirable out. Behind the houses on the west side of the street were vast woods, giving the properties a country feel. The ones on the east side of the street had a small lake behind them.
